Nocturnal Surveys

"If an owl flies through the woods and no one sees it, does it really fly?"

In order to more accurately map the distibution of our state's nocturnal birds, we will be conducting surveys not unlike the very successful “Toot Routes” developed by Doug Gross for the Special Areas Project (SAP) for assessing the breeding populations of Northern Saw-whet Owls in Pennsylvania. Volunteers will use taped calls to detect our nocturnal birds. When used at the appropriate time of year, tape playbacks, as they are most commonly referred to, are very effective at "calling in" owls and many other species of birds. Most commonly, males assume that an intruder has entered his territory and will call back to let the intruder know that he is there. Sometimes, the territorial male or even the female will fly in to get a closer look at the intruder and may even attempt to drive him out of the territory. Through tape playbacks, we will effectively and efficiently determine the distribution and abundance of Pennsylvania's treasures of the night.

Owl Protocol now available - Please request owl CD's from the project coordinators.

Click the image on the left to open the 28-page Owl Survey Protocol booklet (3.1 Mb PDF) in a new window.

PDF files require Acrobat Reader. If you do not have Acrobat Reader, click here for the free download.